Foot strap for picking up a golf ball

ABSTRACT

A foot strap is provided for use for picking up a golf ball from ground and placing it on a tee. The foot strap comprises a belt including a fastening unit for fastening two end portions of the belt, and a socket attached to the belt and having an inner surface configured to fit around part of the golf ball for receiving and holding the golf bait with support of a golf club.

BACKGROUND

Golf is a popular sport in which each player, or golfer, hits a golfball into a hole with one or successive strokes using various golf clubsin accordance with the rules. Competition is generally played for thelowest number of strokes. Each zone, or hole, in a golf course includesa teeing ground to start from and an actual hole to put the ball into.Playing a hole is initiated by striking the ball with a club on theteeing ground. To do so, the golfer places the ball on a tee prior tostriking the ball to make the first shot.

A tee is a small stand that is used to situate the ball slightly abovethe ground so as to reduce the interference of the ground or grass withthe club while the golfer swings the club to hit the ball. A standardgolf tee is two and one eighth inches long, but can be longer orshorter. Tees can be made from wood, plastic or biodegradable material.

There are three types of golf clubs: putters, irons and woods. A putteris generally used to put the ball into the hole. An iron is generallyused to hit the ball at rest on the ground for making relativelyshort-distance shots. A wood, also called a driver, is generally usedfor making the first shot at the tee and intended to propel the ball along distance. Accordingly, a driver is made to be long-shafted andlarge-headed, and typically made of hardwood, metal or compositematerial.

Hitting a hail on a tee to make a long-distance first shot is one of theimportant techniques to acquire in playing golf. Thus, golfers, eitheramateurs or professionals, practice tee shots intensively, while dozensof balls are provided, on the ground to be picked up, placed on a teeand hit by the practicing golfer using a driver. However, this practiceis rather difficult for people having back and/or knee problems becauseit involves repetitive motions of bending the torso over and lifting itback.

To help reduce physical stress to the back and/or knees of a golfer,some prior art devices include modifications of or attachments to a golfclub to pick up a ball. For example, a golf ball gripper installed orattachable at the top end of a golf club has been devised, wherein thegolf ball gripper may include as suction cup, an open-end container,springs or the like to grip the ball. Using this type of device attachedat the top end of the golf club, the golfer can pick up the golf ballwithout bending over. However, these modifications or attachments in theproximity of the grip of a golf club tend to interfere with the golfplay. Additionally, the mechanical parts may deteriorate or fall off inthe long run. The size of such a device may not be adjustable for a widevariety of top ends of existing golf clubs. Furthermore, these devicesare typically meant for use only for picking up a ball, but not forplacing the ball on a tee.

In view of the physically demanding motions required in playing golf,especially those repetitive motions involving bending the torso over andlifting it back, this document describes a new, simple and inexpensivetool to pick up a ball and place it on a tee, thereby reducing physicalstress to the back and/or knees of the golfer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-3 illustrate the process of picking up a golf ball and placingit on a tee using the foot strap according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an example of the foot strap accordingto an embodiment.

FIG. 5A is a side view of an example of the foot strap according to anembodiment, wherein the side of the socket is tapered and the top isslant.

FIG. 5B is a side view of another example of the socket, wherein theside of the socket is untapered and the top is leveled.

FIG. 6 is a top view of an example of the foot strap according to anembodiment.

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of an example of the foot strap according to anembodiment.

FIG. 8 is a front view of an example of the foot strap according to anembodiment.

FIG. 9 is a tear view of an example of the foot strap according to anembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In view of the physically demanding motions in playing golf, such asrepetitively bending the torso over and lifting it back, this documentdescribes a new, simple and inexpensive tool to pick up a golf ball andplace it on a tee, thereby reducing physical stress to the back and/orknees of the golfer. This tool is in the form of a foot strap andespecially useful when a golfer, either an amateur or a professional,practices tee shots intensively, while dozens of balls are provided onthe ground to be picked up, placed on a tee, and hit by the practicinggolfer, who will thus undergo repetitive motions of bending over andback up.

FIGS. 1-3 illustrate the process of picking up a golf ball and placingit on a tee using the foot strap according to an embodiment. The footstrap 100 is wrapped around the left shoe 200 of the right-handed golferin this example. The foot strap 100 has a socket 104 having an innersurface that is shaped to fit partially around a golf ball 204 toreceive and hold the ball 204. The foot strap 100 is detachably worn towrap along the instep circumference across the arch of left foot so thatthe socket 104 is placed on the inner side of the left shoe 200corresponding to the inner side of the arch of left foot. The socket 104is placed facing inward with respect to the golfer's left foot. Aleft-handed golfer can use the same foot strap 100 by wearing it aroundthe right shoe to place the socket 104 on the inner side of the rightshoe corresponding to the inner side of the arch of right foot. In theillustrations of FIGS. 1-3, the golfer wearing the foot strap 100 aroundhis/her left shoe 200 is using a golf club 208, which can be a driver,for hitting the golf ball 204 on a tee 212. The tee 212 is typically ofcylindrical shape for practicing tee shots, and provided on anartificial turf. The length of a standard tee for practicing, is abouttwo and one eighth inches, and can be shorter or longer. FIG. 1illustrates a situation wherein the ball 204 to be picked up is on theground. FIG. 2 illustrates that the golfer is picking up the ball 204using the golf club 208 and the socket 104 of the foot strap 100 toscoop up the ball 204 and receive and hold it in the socket 104 with thesupport of the golf club 208. The ball 204 is being carried by the leftfoot 200 and the golf club 208 from the ground toward the tee 212. FIG.3 illustrates that the ball 204 held between the socket 104 of the footstrap 100 and the golf club 208 is being placed and released on the tee212.

According to the process illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 above, the foot strap100 having the socket 104 allows for the golfer to easily pick up theball 204 from the ground and place it on the tee 212 without bendinghis/her torso over and lifting it back. The maneuver illustrated aboveis not expected to be too difficult, since the standard length of a teeis only two and one eighth inches, and can be longer or shorterdepending on the preference of the golfer. Use of the foot strap 100helps reduce physical stress, and thus it is especially desirable forpeople having back and/or knee problems, and even for a golfer with nophysical problem when repetitive motions of bending over and back up arerequired such as in practicing tee shots, while dozens of balls areprovided on the ground to be picked up, placed on a tee, and hit by thepracticing golfer, one after another.

FIGS. 4-5A and 6-9 illustrate an example of the foot strap 100 accordingto an embodiment, showing a perspective view, side view, top view,bottom view, front view and rear view, respectively. The foot strap 100includes a socket 104 attached to a bell 108 that is used for wrappingaround a shoe that a user, i.e., a golfer, is wearing. In this example,one end portion of the belt 108 includes a buckle 112, and the other endportion of the belt 108 includes a fabric fastener 116, such as VELCRO®hook-and-loop fastener. The buckle 112 may be shaped to be a round orrectangular ring. Using the buckle 112 and the fabric fastener 116, theuser may fasten the two end portions of the belt 108 after wrappingaround his/her shoe along the instep circumference across the arch offoot. Instead of a buckle and a fabric fastener such as VELCRO, a bucklewith a prong may be used to be fastened to one of the holes made in thebelt 108. Alternatively, a snap-in type of buckle paired with a latchplate attached at the other end of the belt 108, such as in a car seatbelt, may be used. The two end portions of the belt 108 of the footstrap 100 can be configured to include any fastening unit as a personwith ordinary skill in the art can devise. The belt 108 may be made of acloth, plastic, polymer, leather or any durable and flexible material.

The above example of the foot strap 100 includes an elastic band 120 aspart of the belt 108. At least part of or the entire belt 108 may bemade of an elastic material to enhance flexibility and adjustability.

The socket 104 is used to receive and hold a golf ball with support of agolf club. Both right-handed and left-handed users can detachably wearthe foot strap 100 around his/her left shoe and right shoe,respectively. The socket 104 is attached to the belt 108 at a positionthat enables the user to place the socket 104 on the inner side of theshoe corresponding to the inner side of the arch of foot and facinginward when the foot strap is worn. The lower portion of the socket 104should be situated at the level with or above the ground so that it doesnot interfere with walking.

Details of the configuration of the socket are explained with referenceto FIGS. 5A, 5B, 6 and 7. FIGS. 5A, 6 and 7 illustrate a side view, atop view and a bottom view, respectively, of the foot strap 100, whereinthe side of the socket 104 has a tapered shape. The tapered socket 104in these figures has an outer surface 10, an inner surface 11 and a topsurface 12. The inner surface 11 is shaped and dimensioned to fit aroundpart of a golf ball. The shape of the inner surface 11 may be of apartial spherical surface, like an ice cream scoop, for example.Alternatively, the shape of the inner surface may be substantially of aninternal side surface of a cylinder without a bottom surface. The sidesurface 10 is tapered along the longitudinal, direction of the belt 108,as seen in FIG. 5A. The top surface 12 is thus slant along the samedirection. The outer surface 10 has substantially a cylindrical shapewith the slant top. Thus, the outer surface 10 is wider on one side thanthe rest By positioning the tapered socket 104 with the wider sidefacing downward, the user may find it relatively easy to pick up a ballfrom the ground by scooping up motion. In this example, the outersurface 10 includes a flat surface portion WA formed substantially alongthe transversal direction of the belt 108. The foot strap 100 can beworn by positioning the socket 104 with the flat surface portion 10Afacing downward so as to reduce interference or friction with theground. Alternatively, the outer surface 10 may be formed to curve alongthe entire circumference as in a cylindrical surface without the flatsurface portion 10A. The socket may be made of polymer-based material,polyester-, polyuretane-, or epoxy-based material, for example, or anyother light and durable material.

FIG. 5B is a side view of another example of the socket 105, wherein theside of the socket 105 is untapered and the top is leveled. Theuntapered socket 105 is formed to have substantially a cylindrical shapehaving an outer surface 15, an inner surface and a top surface. Theuntapered socket 105 has substantially a cylindrical shape with theleveled top. Similar to the tapered socket 104, the inner surface of theuntapered socket 105 is shaped and dimensioned to fit around part of agolf ball. As exemplified above, the shape of the socket can assume awide variety of shapes as long as the inner surface is configured to titaround part of a golf ball and to receive and hold the ball with supportof a golf club, enabling the use process efficiently as illustrated inFIGS. 1-3.

While this document contains many specifics, these should not beconstrued as limitations on the scope of an invention or of what may beclaimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particularembodiments of the invention. Certain features that are described inthis document in the context of separate embodiments can also beimplemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, variousfeatures that are described in the context of a single embodiment canalso be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in anysuitable subcombination. Moreover, although features ma be describedabove as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed assuch, one Or more features from a claimed combination can in some casesbe exercised from the combination, and the claimed combination may bedirected to a subcombination or a variation of a subcombination.

1. A foot strap for use for picking up a golf ball from ground andplacing it on a tee, the foot strap comprising: a belt including afastening unit for fastening two end portions of the belt; and a socketattached to the belt and having an inner surface configured to fitaround part of the golf ball for receiving and holding the golf ballwith support of a golf club.
 2. The foot strap of claim 1, wherein thesocket is attached to the belt at a position that enables a user toplace the socket on an inner side of a shoe corresponding to the innerside of an arch of foot and facing inward when the foot strap is worn byusing the belt to wrap along an instep circumference across the arch offoot.
 3. The foot strap of claim 1, wherein the socket has the innersurface, an outer surface and a top surface.
 4. The foot strap of claim3, wherein the top surface is configured to be slant along alongitudinal direction of the belt to form the outer surface wider onone side than the rest.
 5. The foot strap of claim 3, wherein the outersurface includes a flat surface portion formed substantially along atransversal direction of the belt.
 6. The foot strap of claim 1, whereinat least part of the belt is made of an elastic material.
 7. A methodfor picking up a golf ball from ground and placing it on a tee by usinga foot strap that comprises a belt including a fastening unit forfastening two end portions of the belt, and a socket attached to thebelt and having an inner surface configured to fit around part of thegolf ball, the method comprising: wearing the foot strap around a shoeby using the belt to wrap along an instep circumference across an archof foot to place the socket on an inner side of the shoe correspondingto the inner side of the arch of foot and facing inward; scooping up thegolf ball from the ground to receive and hold the golf ball in thesocket with support of a golf club; carrying the golf ball toward thetee with the foot and the golf club; and releasing the golf ball toplace the golf ball on the tee.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein thesocket is further configured to have a top surface that is slant along alongitudinal direction of the belt to form an outer surface that iswider on one side than the rest, wherein the wearing further compriseswearing the toot strap by positioning the socket with the wider side ofthe outer surface facing downward.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein thesocket is further configured to have an outer surface including a flatsurface portion substantially along a transversal direction of the belt,wherein the wearing further comprises wearing the foot strap bypositioning the socket with the flat surface portion facing downward.